Employee ownership trust specialist confident after enjoying record 2019
Employee ownership trust (EOT) specialist Ownership Associates is expecting to seal more such deals this year following a record 2019.
The Stirling-based firm, which is led by Carole Leslie, completed 11 EOTS in Scotland last year and has secured six so far in 2020, with more in transition and seeing robust levels of interest in the EOT route from various sectors.
Deals completed in 2019 included two in Shetland with pharmaceutical consultancy ESPL and Laurence Odie Knitwear; Fife-based engineer GS Brown; demolition business Safedem and internet marketing company Buzz base in Dundee; East Kilbride-based engineering consultancy Grossart Associates; and the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh.
Leslie described last year’s activity as “exceptional,” with 2020 looking very promising .“We also have a pipeline of more than 20 businesses, all at different stages in their plans. We can see this decade being one in which employee ownership is even more prominent as a route to succession via a model that provides sustainability and delivers business success that rewards the very people who create that success – the employees.”
E OTS were introduced in 2014 to foster employee ownership, with tax benefits for business-owners and staff. There are now around 90 Scotland-headquartered employee-owned companies.
Leslie has been working in the field since 2000, founding Ownership Associates in 2010, and having completed 60-plus employee buyout deals.
She said: “Industry research shows that employee ownership is growing faster in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK outside London. Covid-19 and recent changes to the tax regime are making EOTS increasingly attractive to business owners when they are considering an exit.”